Love Story
by sneakysnail27
Summary: Luke is out working in the forest like any other day, when he meets a girl. Will his father approve of his love? Or will Luke keep it hidden? Rated T for mild cursing.


Love Story

(the backstory)

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any characters mentioned in this story.**

It was a crisp Autumn day on one fateful morning. The cool wind was blowing and the sun had yet to rise on the cloudy sky. The animals were just beginning to stir, the fallen leaves crackling beneath their feet. It was still very early, so every house in the mining district was still dark and silent. All were silent, except for one. Near the end of the main street, a medium-sized, light brown house had a light on. It was at the top of the house and there seemed to be a figure moving about the room. The figure's shadow would cross the light every minute or so, blocking the light from reaching the dark road below. Eventually the person must have left the room, for the light turned off and a room near the bottom of the house was newly illuminated.

Inside that room was a young man fixing himself a breakfast. He had two pieces of toast, two eggs, and several strips of bacon. The man greedily ate it down before cleaning his mess. Afterwards, he packed himself a box lunch, for he would be gone most of the day. He looked in the mirror and saw the bridge of his nose had begun bleeding again, so he placed a band-aid over the wound. With extreme ease from constant practice, he tied his bandana tight around his head. He grabbed the meal he packed and was about to leave when a voice called to him.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Luke?" Luke jumped, startled by the sound.

"Huh?" Luke asked bewilderedly.

"Your ax. How can you chop wood without your tools?" Luke's dad, Dale, replied smiling.

"Oh crap, my bad." Luke grabbed the hatchet from Dale's hands. "Thanks Dad!" He added before he left.

Luke stuffed all his supplies into his work pack and walk over to his ostrich, Tobias. After scrambling on Tobias's back, he hastily encouraged the animal to speed off in the direction of the forest. He whistled the tune of his new favorite hit song, _Baby Boar Blues_ by DJ Khaled, as he zipped down the town road. Occasionally he stopped to say hi to a few friendly faces, but never chatting too long; for if he did, Dale would get pissed. So instead Luke kept on his merry way.

Luke jumped off of Tobias at the entrance to the forest. He instructed the ostrich to pick him up around 5:00 PM. (How that flightless bird with a tiny brain could ever comprehend times was beyond anyone's guess.) Luke strutted into the forest ready for a hard day's work. But what he wasn't ready for was something that would change his life forever.

"One, two, three, chop!" Luke repeated his little mantra in his head for each swing. Eventually he gave one more hard swing and chopped down his seventh tree of the day. He collected the lumber and proceeded to the next tree.

"One, two, three, chop!"

"One, two, three, chop!"

"One, two, three, chop!"

"One, two, three, chop!" Another tall tree came barreling down. He once again split this fallen trunk into the pieces of lumber, which were much more portable.

Many people view this type of work as menial labor that was only suited for the poor, but Luke loved his work. It excited him. He felt energized by it. The adrenaline coursing through his body, the sweat glistening on his skin. Everything was just wonderful. Everything was just so… so… extreme.

"Extreme? That's a fun word. I should use that more often," Luke thought to himself. "Eh, maybe it's a bit too rugged for me." He dismissed this strange idea and went back to work.

After a grueling few hours, Luke decided it was time for his lunch break. He ate his rice and vegetables first, for they were more appetizing to him, and his eggs and fish second. He took his time eating the meal, making sure to enjoy and savor each piece. With each new bite was a new experience, yet to be discovered by him before. Some people considered Luke to be a snob, but he ignored their negativity.

Anyway, Luke had finished his lunch and was ready to get back to work. He stood up, grabbed his hatchet, and was raring to go. He took a step, only to realize his foot was caught under a root. He fell forward, screaming. This was how he would die. Falling and impaling himself on his ax. But that never came. His fall was broken when he flopped arms around a tree. The tree saved his life. Luke looked up to his savior. This glorious tree. This life-saving tree. This beautiful, wonderful, sexy tree. Wait.

"Did I just think this tree was sexy?" Luke thought. "I must have hit my head." But Luke felt fine. He felt great. He felt a fluttering sensation bubbled up in his gut. He glanced once more at the tree. The tingling grew. He felt something new and different. This was unlike anything before. He looked at the tree again.

"Caroline." Luke didn't know why he said this. He didn't even think it, he just said it. Audibly. Like out loud. Somehow he knew this tree's name. Something in his mind, no his heart, clicked with this organism. Trees were really no different than humans. They were both living things trying their best to survive on this cruel and unjust world.

Finally Luke mustered up the courage to introduce himself.

"Hi there," Luke began blushing. "I'm Luke. You just saved my life." He reached out and gently shook her branch.

"Your skin, er, bark is so smooth. I hope you don't mind me saying." But Caroline spoke of no resistance so Luke believed it to be ok. "You're very pretty" He spoke again. She swayed a bit in the wind and Luke was afraid he had upset her.

"Uh… I have to go, I'm sorry." Luke, quickly flustered, had to make his exit to prevent himself from saying something stupid to this beautiful girl. He gathered his items and sprinted out the forest. Of course it was well before 5:00, so Tobias was nowhere in sight. Luke would have to walk home, but he didn't mind. He could spend the time thinking of Caroline.

Luke walked into the living room and plopped on the couch with a great sigh. But it wasn't a distressed sigh, or even an annoyed one; it was a sigh of delight. His heart raced. Luke thought it would pump straight out of his chest. He began to daydream about all of Caroline's lovely features. Her tall, dark, slender body. Her eccentric green leaves sprouting beautifully from her branches. Her strong roots buried into the ground. Her…

"Luke! What are you doing home?" Dale's booming voice echoed through the small room. He had recently emerged from the stair well and was surprised to see his so home this early.

"Oh Father," Dale flinched, for Luke had never called him _Father_ before. "I met the most beautiful girl today."  
"Oh," Dale gave a hearty chuckle. "This is all about a girl?" He couldn't help but smile. His studious, almost dorky, son had found someone.

"Yes! Her name is Caroline and she is simply wonderful. Her olive complexion is simply gorgeous!"

"And you met her in the forest?"

"Yes, she was just standing there, tall and firm." Dale thought this was slightly strange that a young lady was just standing in the forest. "Please Father, may I have work off tomorrow so I can go visit her?"

"Oh what the hell, why not son."

Luke sprang up and hugged his dad. "Thank you Dad!" He then proceeded to run up to his room.

"What a crazy kid." Dale thought to himself. Little did he know, this would be nowhere near the worst of it.

For the next week, Luke did next to zero work. Every day he would visit Caroline in the forest. He packed picnics for them and different activities, but most of the time they would just talk. They discussed their lives and their interests. Luke would always talk about his best friend, Bo, and what he was up to. He talked about his new favorite artist, DJ Khaled, and how he inspired him. Luke would talk about how Mayor Hamilton had been making frequent stops to his house, giving gift baskets to Dale. He thought it was weird, but he began to ignore it. Caroline wouldn't talk much, she mainly listened. She was very good at that.

A lot of the time they would simply lay there. Absorbing the sunlight and CO2 and just having a peaceful time to themselves. Even though they didn't do much, Luke still enjoyed his time with Caroline thoroughly. She was calm and nice, not the type of girl who was controlling and would bark orders at you.

One day Luke layed there in the grassy forest floor, gazing upon Caroline's beautiful body, loving every bit of her. That butterfly feeling came back to his stomach. He finally realized what this was. He was in love. Luke stood up from his relaxing position and walked towards Caroline. He wrapped his arms around her and gently pressed his lips to her trunk.

"I love you"

"I know" A voice called back to him.

Earlier that day.

Bo walked in the kitchen only to find Dale sitting at the bar, waiting for him.

"Bo we need to talk." The grizzled man spoke to him.

"Uh, did I do something wrong?" Bo asked apprehensively.

"No, no. It's about Luke. I'm worried about him. He's spending all this time with this Caroline girl and not doing any of his work."

"That is weird"

"You must know about her, right?"

"Actually sir, I have never heard of anyone named Caroline on Castanet." Dale sat there in deep thought, his brow ruffled over his dark eyes. "Maybe he's making up a girlfriend to get out of work?" Bo suggested, knowing this couldn't be true. Luke loved his work too much to want to get out of doing it.

"Hmm," Dale continued thinking. "Bo, when Luke leaves this morning I want you to follow him and find out what he does all day."

"Yes sir." Bo stated simply.

Bo had tagged behind Luke all day. He followed him through his trek leading him to the forest. Bo had made sure to stay several yards behind Luke, as not to draw attention to himself. But it didn't seem to matter. Luke was almost in some sort of trance state. He was ridiculously happy. Luke was always a happy guy, but this was to an extreme. Bo became very wary and continued stalking his friend.

Luke led him into a small clearing in what felt like the middle of the forest. He greeted Caroline, but there was no girl in sight.

"Maybe Luke was going mad?" Bo wondered. "Well hasn't he always been a little crazy?"

But it got weird when Luke began talking to himself. Except it sounded like he was talking to someone else. Bo couldn't find anyone around that could be on the opposite end of this conversation. Finally Bo's questions were answered when Luke got up and hugged the tree.

"I love you." Luke softly whispered.

"I know." Bo said, not meaning to say out loud. Luke whipped back with a look of embarrassment and confusion. Bo knew who Luke was in love with. Caroline was a tree.

"BO!" Luke shouted.

"Shit." Bo turned around quickly and sprinted out of the forest. He ran and ran until he no longer saw Luke in the distance. Not even one speck of his blue hair. Bo then returned to the house he shared with Dale and his friend. Dale was sitting in almost the exact same position as when Bo had left, awaiting the news.

"What do you mean Caroline is a tree?" Dale boomed.

"I mean Caroline is a freaking tree! Your son is in love with a tree!"

"This must be some kind of attention grab, yes that's it. He wants attention. He wouldn't really miss it if that _tree_ were out of the picture."

"But we don't know where the tree is. And there are thousands of trees in that forest, it would take ages to randomly guess and cut!"

"There is a way." Dale eyeballed the manilla folder buried in a gift basket from the Mayor.

"Dale you can't do that. We'll lose so much business."

"We'll have no business if we can't get Luke to cut this shit he's pulling."

"You're right."

"I'm going to see the Mayor first thing tomorrow."

There was a knock on Hamilton's office door.

"Come in!" he shouted. A large man entered through the door frame. His stocky build was dripping wet from the storm, for Luke had taken the umbrella to go visit _Caroline_. Dale swept his blue hair out from in front of his eyes and to the back of his head.

"Oh Dalebert, how nice for you to finally make a visit." Hamilton giggled before taking a long sip from his tea.

Dale threw the envelope he had received onto the Mayor's desk. "Listen up Hammy, I don't want to do this, but I will for the sake of my son."

"Oh what's wrong with poor Lucas now?" Hamilton smiled innocently, but not actually innocently.

"None of your goddamn business. Now do you want the deal or not?"

"Of course I do. I always have." Dale leaned down and signed the papers that had been extracted from the envelope. He quickly made his leave.

"Have a nice day Dalebert."

"Go to hell."

Luke woke up to the sound of heavy machinery. The sound of chainsaws and other mechanical nightmares.

"Caroline." He bolted out of bed and grabbed his coat. He ran down the stairs and was ready to leave the house when someone stepped in front of him.

"Bo! Get out of the way!" Luke shouted angrily in his friend's face.

"Luke, please don't go. It's for your own good."

"Bo, what the hell are you talking about." Bo didn't respond. A single tear ran down his young face.

"Bo?!" Luke yelled more desperately this time. Bo still didn't move. Luke raised his fist and punched Bo squarely in the jaw. Bo slumped to the floor water streaming down his face, and now blood trickling from his mouth. Luke slammed the door as he exited the house, leaving his bruised friend alone.

"I couldn't do it Dale. You and Luke were always right. I'm weak." Bo spoke softly to himself.

Luke leaped on Tobias and kicked him to get his feet moving. The bird could feel Luke's anxiety and picked up its pace in response. The ostrich and Luke tore down the road, zooming to the forest. Tears began to form in Luke's eyes as he feared the worst for his love. His love was new and exciting, and it could all be ripped away from him. A fleeting moment, lost forever.

Luke jumped off his bird and sprinted into the forest. It was more barren than it had ever been. There were hundreds of trees missing, machinery treads ravaged the ground. Luke began crying uncontrollably. He was seething with rage and flooded with sadness at the same time. But deep inside there was still a sliver of hope left. An ounce of longing in his heart. As he ran full speed, no sign of slowing down, adrenaline pumping, he thought back to his great memories with Caroline. Their first meeting. Their first picnic. Their first kiss.

Luke reached the now familiar clearing and dropped to his knees. There wasn't a tree in sight. Caroline was gone. She had saved his life, but he was too late to save hers. The satanic machinery was long gone. It had torn through this forest without a dash of remorse. It destroyed his love. Caroline. Someone was going to pay.

Bo had gotten up and cleaned himself up. He was now sitting at the bar, his back to the door. He felt terrible for letting Luke go, but he felt worse for letting Dale go through with the deal. Now Hamilton shared rights to the forest and used it for commercial companies to cut their own wood. Bo still couldn't believe it. But most of all, Bo was scared. Scared of what was to come in the wake of the hurt Luke must now be feeling. Despite what Dale believed, Bo thought Luke might have been genuine in his feelings for Caroline.

The door creaked open. "Look Dale…" Bo began. But it wasn't Dale. Luke rushed forward and grabbed Bo by the back of the shirt. He threw and slammed him onto the kitchen table. Bo screamed in pain. Luke picked up one of the wooden chairs and smashed it onto Bo's back. He only whimpered from the pain. Luke grasped him again and tossed him into the wall.

"WHO THE FUCK CUT DOWN THOSE TREES."

"Luke, please stop." Luke picked up a vase and threw it and Bo's face. The glass cut him and blood began to cover the boy's face.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION GODDAMMIT!"

"It was Hamilton! He green lighted the operation." Luke released his grip on Bo and the boy collapsed on the ground writhing in pain. Luke walked toward the door and picked up his hatchet before he left.

"That son of a bitch is gonna pay."

"Gill! Please fetch me some crackers would you?" Hamilton asked his son as he continued his work. Hamilton was extremely happy with how the deforestation plans were going. He counted up the money he had received from the companies using the lumber and placed it in the small vault in the back of his office. After several minutes of working the Mayor realized his son was not back with the snacks yet.

"Gill? Gill?" The flaheny called out twice more. Suddenly Gill slowly entered the room. Or rolled in. As in his decapitated head rolled in followed by the carpenter's son with a bloody ax and murder in his eyes.

"YOU KILLED HER!"

"Killed who? I'm afraid you're mistaken. There have been no murders around here. Not recently at least." Hamilton nervously replied.

"Caroline. In the forest you killed her."

"Wait, was Caroline a tree?" Hamilton inquired.

"WE WERE IN LOVE!" Luke screamed as he swung his ax towards the fat man's neck.

"One, two, three, chop!"

Luke's clothes were covered in blood.

"Looks like I've made a mess!" Luke laughed to himself. There was something about watching Hamilton's head drop to the ground, severed from his body, that he loved. It excited him. He felt energized by it. The adrenaline coursing through his body, the sweat glistening on his skin. Everything was just wonderful. Everything was just so… so… extreme.

The End


End file.
